BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Friday, November 11, 2016

James Younghusband is sitting in
a coffee shop at BGC. He sips coffee. And smiles.

He’s older now. And on the eve of
his fifth Suzuki Cup – it should be his sixth but he missed one staging – the excitement
of playing in Southeast Asia’s premier football event has not dampened one
iota. He’s older, “mellower” he likes to put it, but his boyish grin is still
there.

Ten years on the senior squad, 11
overall including the youth team, James his brother Phil are now the last of
the new wave riders. Everyone else who came up with them through the really
lean years and during the massive breakthrough six years ago in the same
tournament in Vietnam are now either retired or consigned to playing club
football.

Shrocky though,” he says about
the squads’ fiery Fil-German wunderkind, Stephan Schrock, “I just learned is a
few weeks older than me.” Younghusband celebrated his 30th birthday
last September 4th.

“This is what we worked long and
hard for,” he quips while taking in a sip of morning coffee. “To host the group
stages in front of our home crowd.”

The coffee shop is rapidly
filling up with people. The women. Yeah, they all smile at him. Jaymie Pizarro,
the Bullrunner, who once did a Gatorade commercial with the Younghusband
brothers is also buying coffee. “I think this place is filled up because of
you,” she quips.

James smiles.

He has a lot to smile for. After being
left out of the squad a few years ago, he’s now back in the line-up.

The time away from the team
forced him to re-assess his situation. As good as he was on the pitch with his
knack for exquisite passes and deadly goals, he was at times, a problem for his
team because of his temper.

Every once in a while, he looks
at the video of this game where his Meralco Sparks were leading Philippine Air
Force and all set to win the match when he got sent off for… things that merit
a sending off. He views this and a few others. “I had anger issues,” he admits.
He dispels the notion that it manifested because of his becoming the head of
the family at such an early and tender age. “It was more because of this desire
to win. Growing up in England, I followed Roy Keane who played with a lot of
fire. Ryan Giggs was like that as well. But yes, it was a reality check for me.”

The one night, the Azkals’
everyman Ace Bright gave him a call about him getting another call-up to the
team. “I thought it was a joke,” James recalls. “I couldn’t sleep that night
because I was just so excited.”

And Younghusband did make come back
to the team. More than that, he came back a better footballer. More precise in
his passing, and more obviously, in control. “I was awful, wasn’t I?” he laughs
now at what was in the past.

James understands his role now.
The playing time has diminished. But now he helps with the younger players.
There’s a happy atmosphere around the team. “As one of the longest tenured
players on the team, wat you do off the pitch is just as important,” he points
out. James admits to also looking at Chelsea’s John Terry on how his role has
changed with the Blues.

Looking at today, the Azkals, he’s
excited. “The team has gotten so much better through the years. Better players.
Better coaching. Better support. But right now, for us, making the semi-finals
is not good enough. I recall back then, we’d say, ‘let’s try to make the semis.’
Now, having made it in the last three, it’s now winning it all.”

“We have to make the homefield
advantage count. That was we fought for in Vietnam six years ago,” he adds
pointing to the Philippines being in the group of death as the Azkals are
bracketed with Thailand and Singapore, winners of the last two events. And
there is dangerous and hungry Indonesia. “It’s going to be very difficult so we
need all the help we can get.”

Six years ago, the Philippines
wasn’t considered an equal on the field. Huge triumphs, great strides in world
football, and climbing up the FIFA rankings, the Azkals are now on level terms
in the realm of respect and ability. “Teams really prepare for us now. You
could feel and sense they want to beat you. Even teams like Vietnam to this
day, they still feel the loss and want to get back at us.”

“But Vietnam, as historic as it
was for us in a football sense, we have to build on that and move forward. I’m
in the past but I’d sure like to help it move forward. If hope this isn’t my
last Suzuki Cup. Whatever it is, I hope it will be just as memorable.”

Eleven years representing the
Philippines and 63 international caps with 10 goals later, Younghusband is just
grateful for the opportunity to be back. “Hopefully, this will be an even
bigger milestone.”

Check out my other blogs!

Twitter Updates

What I do for a living?

I also write regularly for Business Mirror; philstar.com; abs-cbnnews.com, and rappler.com.

I am also currently the media officer for the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup, the National Basketball Training Center, and the Flying V Davao Thunders.

I do PR consultancy for a variety of clients that I do not want to divulge.

I used to teach journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University hand have given lectures about journalism, new media, marketing, and public relations at the Ateneo, UP Diliman, UST, San Beda, Immaculate Conception Academy, Miriam College, Mindanao State University, FIFA seminars, and a few other schools and organizations.

I used to write for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines Free Press, and Maxim Philippines. I have also contributed to FHM, Men's Health, Tower Sports NBA, Rebound, and a few other sports, interior design, and lifestyle magazines as well. Most recently, I was the editor-in-chief of PBA Life, the Official Lifestyle Magazine of the Philippine Basketball Association as well as Season 40 edition of Hardcourt, the season-in-review.

My blog, Bleachers' Brew, serves as a hub for many of my writings (but not all as there are some that are exclusive).

When I have free time, I listen to my collection of over 5,000 CDs, read, watch DVDs, or walk my dog around the subdivision.